Have a cookie

I should’ve known upon deciding to become a dietitian that people would forever be watching me and what I eat. For example, this week while eating lunch with some friends, upon sitting down to eat one of them said, “Hm, interesting that the future dietitian is the only one here who didn’t order a salad.” It’s true, I had opted for a burrito that day. Now let’s talk about why–

Here’s the truth: the end goal in this whole nutrition-diet-exercise loop is to escape from food enslavement– meaning you can eat what you want when you want it. It means you don’t worry about what food you wish you could be eating or guilting over foods you wish you hadn’t eaten. It’s being and feeling healthy, happy, and comfortable with where you are.

Now we have to be careful. Eating what you want when you want it can become a slippery slope if done in the wrong way. The trick to this freedom from food enslavement is learning to eat the foods that your body needs in the right amounts. It takes goal setting, conscious effort, and time to develop those habits. This takes us back to our five-a-day rule. When the effort is made daily to get enough food from each food group, and then sticking to our goals to stay active, there’s no harm in having a brownie, or a burrito for that matter. It’s moderation in all things that makes the real difference.

So please don’t fall under the impression that in order to be healthy it’s necessary to cut out anything that has been deemed “unhealthy.” And don’t forget to have a cookie sometimes.